HUNTING THE HIPPOPOTAMUS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17690, 30 July 1919, Page 6

HUNTING THE HIPPOPOTAMUS

, A SPORT WITH THRILLS. Hunters of big game in Africa usually name the lion, the elephant, the rhinocerous, and the buffalo as tlie animals most likely to remind a hunter that human life is short and full of troubles. The hippopotamus is seldom included among the dangerous beasts. Jolm Alfred writing in The Wide-world Magazine (5v T ew York) relates some adventures with the ponderous "river liorse," however, which would seem to indicate that on occasion this animal is capable of enough ferocity to make its pursuit satis- •. fy-nglv .exciting to even the most hardy ; Nimrod that ever penetrated the jungles jof the Dark Continent. His first encoun- ] ter with the hippopotamus, ho says, took j place on the Victoria I\ yanza, where he I had gone to slioot crocodiles. He was in i a canoe with a number of natives. SudI denly a big bull hippo rose out of the water about 80 yards away. The natives, thinking of tile supply of meat represented by the five-ton Ijeast, urged the crocodile-hunter to shoot the hippo. The animal had sunk soon after it was sighted, but presently reappeared some 20 yards nearer. The hunter aimed for the brain and fired, whereupon the excitement began: 'I had shot a good many of these beasts before, and had thought it very tame sport. I quickly altered my opinion, however. No sooner did the hippo feel the bullet than it reared up out of the

water as if to catch sight of its enemy. Seeing the t canoe, he started coming toward us at a terrifying speed, opening and shutting his huge mouth as if he had already one of ns between those formidable teeth and tusks. "The boys never waited for another shot; they started paddling for dear life. I ordered _ them to stop so that I could shoot again, but they only followed out this command when the hippo had sunk under water once more. I sat ready for it to come up, knowing they can only stav submerged for about three minutes, unless killed, when they sink, only to reappear some hours later. Up' came the wounded animal about 50 yards away with a mighty bellow and head and shoulders well exposed. I fired, but one of the boys moving threw me out in my aim, and I only inflicted another wound. "Once more the infuriated animal charged toward ns, and again my canoe men bent their backs to the paddle until we were within 20 yards of tjie shore. The hippo sank, and when he emerged again only the tip of his noSe was to be seen. Before I could fire at this mark he disappeared. I sat oatiently in the canoe hoping to get another shot, when all of a sudden I was pitched headlong into the water. "On coming up to the surface I found myself among the boys, who were striking out for the shore, in which action I promptly followed suit. I had not taken many strokes when I suddenly remembered that tlie waters were infested with crocodiles, and the thought that I might be pulled under by one of these reptiles had the effect of temporarily depriving my limbs of their movenjent, and I nearly sank. I was quickly brought to my sense's by hearing a commotion behind me, and on turning saw the hippo with part of the canoe in his mouth. The sight spurred me on, and soon I was swimmin°

as fast as I could for the shore, and a few minutes later was nulled out by my waiting men. We sat and watched the , hippo tear the canoe to pieces in his savage rage. "I could do nothing. My riflle had gone to the bottom when I tumbled overboard. The boys told me that the animal liad come up under the canoe at the far end and tilted it up, throwing us" all out. My back had been toward the beast, and I had gone into the water first. I felt very angry at the mishap. It meant a loss to me of about £50. for, in addition to the. rifle, there were field-glasses, compass, luncheon basket, and the price of the canoe. The natives came out of the transaction much better, for the beast was found dead next morning, with the result that for days they lived on hippo steak." —Another Adventure:— The writer's next adventure with a hippo was even more exciting, for the animal came right up to his camp at night. It was in East Africa, where he had been trading cattle for sheep with one of the native tribes, and had collected a, Large number of animals 'which he kept in a camp on the banks of the Engaberry River. Game was plentiful in the° neighbourhood. and one morning, when he was out to obtain _ meat for the camp, the donkey on which lie was riding .became frightened by a lioness bounding across the path, and threw him, .dislocating his shoulder. He was taken back to camp, and. as he continues: "That night I found sleep impossible through the pain, so got a Wanderobo warrior to sit by my bed and tell me tales of his tribe. I had the fly of my tent wide open, so that I could' see the huge camp-fire burning in front of the kraals to keep away intruders. The camp had settled down to sleep, when the Wanderobo and I heard a crashing of the scrub in a patch of forest about 20 yards awav._ From the sounds we thought it was a rhinoreros. The warrior fot his bow and poisoned arrow ready in case the animal wanted to investigate the camp. "Then a huge body loomed out of the darkness into the light of the fire, in front of which it stood, and, opening its tremendous mouth, we saw at once it was a hippo. The Wanderobo quickly strung an arrow. I could not use my rifle because of ' my damaged shoulder, but' got my revolver out. I do not think the animal meant any harm. It had been to the fire by curiosity. But the warrior, seeing such prime meat and such a tempting mark for his arrow, released the shaft, and the blade sank deep into the shoulder of the hippo. "No sooner did the beast feel the iron barb of the arrow than it made one frantic rush rignt through the fire, scorching itself Badly. This only increased its rage. Turning slightly to one side, it dashed through the sheep and cattle kraal, trampling under its heavy feet some 30 of the affrighted sheep. Passing out of. the kraal the hippo found itself among the porters' tents, and, treading on the ropes, brought them down on top of the scared inmaies. Luckily, no one was injured, but before the men could recover from the sudden surprise the hippo was gone, "The scene that followed baffles description. Live stock were stampeding in all directions, while the boys were yelling and falling over one another. When at last I could make myself heard above the tumult I ordered everyone to get firebrands and round up the scattered animals before they had gone too* far. They soon rounded up some sheep; but the donkeys and cattle had strayed too far, and it-was clear -nothing more could be done till morning. "As soon as it was light I inspected the damaged sheep. Ten had been killed out rightj while another 16 had to be slaugh-

iiwnm^i—f—imi||mn raHiHuiauinaTnri tered as being past help. Four others were also slightly injured. On malting a lough count I also found there were still about 20 missing. During the night we distinctly heard leopards coughing, and I felt certain I could count on more sheep being lost. h, unfortunately, proved to be the case and next morning the Wanderobo found the dead bodies of 27 sheep, all killed by leopards. Many had simply been struck down by these brutes for the sake of killing. We located the leopards asleep under some bushes a little distance beyond the camp, and they were quickly dispatched with poisoned jtows. "The hippo was found dead about 600 yards from the camp. It was an exceedingly fine bull, but I -would readily have parted with it for a quarter of my loss, men I totalled up that night I found! I liad lost three n.ilch cows worth £10 apiece, over 60 sheep valued •at £20, while the hippo was not worth a £10 note. Ihe boys, however, enjoyed the loss, as they were enabled to have their lull ration of moat for davs. I dare sav it all happened for the best, because I was unable to use my .shoulder for nearly a month, and that would have meant killing a number of sheep to supply the camp with meat. ' . 1 —In the Congo Region.— The next time this hunter encountered a hmpo he nearly lost his life. It was m the Congo region of West Africa, where, he sayfe,' the animals were so plentiful that he has counted 500 aind 600 in a day while travelling on a steamer. While camped on the Ingia River he noticed a huge bull hippo that come every morning to sleep on a sand-bank! about 800 yards away. One morning the hunter determined to have a shot at Mr Hippo. Embarking in a canoe with a number of his native boys, they paddled to .the sandbank where* the animal was sleeping, and landed about 30 yards -from it. The rustling of the grass as they made their way through it roused the hippo and brought it to its feet. Then one of the natives, mistaking a rock for a crocodile, let Dut a shout, and, says the writer: "This was quite sufficient to confirm the suspicions of the now thoroughly alert' beast that there was something amiss: and he started off down toward the water. I quickly got in a shot, which brought the animal up short. He then swung around and faced ns. Just as I pulled the trigger for a second shot the hippo toward us. The bullet checked the straight course of the now enraged brute, or it would have trambled over me. Unfort-u----natelv. however, one of the gun-bearers who stood in the hippo's path, lost his nerve, and, instead of lumping* to one side, fell down ip front of it. The animal seemed to open iiis. mouth and grip the boy. I managed to land home a. couple of shots just as the brute plunged into the water, taking the boy with him. "We rushed to the spot, but there was no sign of either, boy or hippo, except the redness of the water from the blood of the wounded animal. Presently he rose near the bank, but without the "boy. I got a bullet home, when he sank again. "I thought it was good-bye to mj'- gunbearer, and returned sorrowfully back to camp. Imagine my surprise when the first individual I stumbled up against was the missing boy, beaming with life and grinning at mv look of stupefaction! It appears that the hippo had grabbed him by his coat. It being an old garment it gave way just as the animal reached the water, into which the boy fell. A strong current quickly carried him down-stream out ,of harm's way, and, regaining the bank, he made his way back to camp. I was so delighted with his escape that I gave him ihe best coat I had in mav scanty wardrobe, which, in his estimation, more than made up for the scare lie had j had. We secured the body of the hippo late in the afternoon, ancl it proved a

monster, weighing over five tons. The tusks were of good thickness and nearly 30in in length. The flesh was very acceptable to the villagers, and they held dances all through the night in commemoration of the killing of the river monster. This episode was sufficient to establish the writer's reputation among the natives as a mighty slayer of hippos, and they begged him to go out on a hunt for them, j as they greatly the flesh of these animals. They also said the hippos had trampled down their crops. The hunter finally agreed, and they started out on the Kasai River. They presently ran into a herd of about 70 hippos. There was neither much glorv nor any appreciable excitement in shooting a couple of these unsuspecting beasts, and having done so, and thinking that enough for one day, they started hack for camp. That is when pthey ran into their adventure: "On our way back we noticed a man and boy fisliing n'ear a small island. While my boys rested I inquired of the man if he had any fish for sale. He replied that he would bring his catch to my tent for me to select what I required, so we started again. We had only gone a few yards when we heard a pitiful yelling. Looking back, we saw the man and boy trying to heat off a hippo which had upset the canoe and was attacking them as they were seated on the wreck. We turned and paddled to their assistance, but before we could do anything the man was seized by the leg and pulled into the water. I was afraid of shooting the man, if lie still remained alive, so ordered' the boys to drive the canoe straight toward the beast, which was still showing above water. When we got closer I could see no sign of the man, and therefore fired at the aggressor. The bullet only wounded the animal, and lie made a rush toward us, well oub of the water. I stopped the rush with two well-placed shots, and the hippo disappeared. "We then went over and rescued the boy, who was still yelling for help. While searching for the boy's father the lad tnld me that the hippo had a baby on the island. They had discovered it while ashore cutting some sticks, but had not killed it because they had not brought • their spears, but his father intended securI ing it next day if still on the island. They had not seen the mother until sho had attacked the canoe. Finding no trace .of the man, we continued our journey. The other canoes arrived later with the three dead hippos. ."So the natives had enough meat to last' them a long time. I heard that it was quite a common occurrence for a canoe to bo attacked without any reason by a cow with a baby, or a quarrelsome lone bull, and that the fishermen generally gave them a wide berth. Even if they only upset the canoe, there was always a danger of the occupants being seized by crocodiles.